Jerome Strach

June 29th, 2017

The CHESS payload is integrated with the sounding rocket before launch. The goal of the mission was to measure the light filtered through the interstellar medium in order to examine the earliest stages of star formation. Photo Credit: Kevin France / University of Colorado

In New Mexico, from the White Sands Missile Range, NASA launched a Black Brant IX sounding rocket at 1:10 a.m. EDT on June 27, 2017. The mission known as CHESS Colorado High-Resolution Echelle Stellar Spectrograph has given every indication to NASA mission handlers that the flight appeared very promising with science data being received as anticipated.

Within the vastness of distant star neighborhoods, there float near-infinite clouds of neutral atoms and molecules, along with charged plasma particles called the interstellar medium, that scientists theorize could form into new stars, or even planets, over millions of years. CHESS will focus on these vast reservoirs of interstellar soup seeking to analyze infant star formation stages.

CHESS will analyze the atoms and molecules as light passes through the interstellar medium to gain a better understanding of stars and their dynamic history. The gathering of this scientific data for later analysis of the light spectrumis achieved with a brief 16-minute flight. Only 45 percent of this flight time can be used making observations while the sounding rocket travels 90200 miles (145322 kilometers) above the surface.

The observations must be made above Earths atmosphere because far-ultraviolet light, which is the portion of the light spectrum that CHESS focuses on, will not penetrate our atmospheres protective shield. Once observations have transpired through apogee, the payload delicately parachutes back to Earth in order to be recovered for future flights.

This iterative process is why this particular flight is the third in a series initiated over the past three years, and also why it is the most significant survey yet. This launch payload utilized a newly upgraded diffraction grating, a process whereby light reflection is separated into various wavelengths allowing for detailed analysis.

Kevin France is the primary investigator from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and he discussed this upgraded payload grating. A more efficient grating means the instrument is that many times more sensitive, France said. Compared to the first flight of CHESS, this third incarnation is about eight times more sensitive.

Utilizing sounding rocket vehicles allows for an economic science hardware refinement process that can ultimately see advanced instrument design placed into orbit for long-term missions. According to France, the CHESS instrument serves as a spectrograph prototype for NASAs LUVOIR concept.

Supporting technology and suborbital flight projects today directly translates into lower risk and shorter development time for NASAs large missions in the next two decades, France said.

CHESS is supported through NASAs Sounding Rocket Program conducted at the agencys Wallops Flight Facility, which is managed by NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Orbital ATK provides mission planning, engineering services, and field operations for the NASA Sounding Rocket Operations Contract. NASAs Heliophysics Division manages the sounding rocket program for the agency.

Tagged: Black Brant IX CHESS The Range University of Colorado White Sands Test Facility

Jerome Strach has worked within the Silicon Valley community for 20 years including software entertainment and film. Along with experience in software engineering, quality assurance, and middle management, he has long been a fan of aerospace and entities within that industry. A voracious reader, a model builder, and student of photography and flight training, most of his spare time can be found focused on launch events and technology advancements including custom mobile app development. Best memory as a child is building and flying Estes rockets with my father. @Romn8tr

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CHESS mission measures light filtered through interstellar medium - SpaceFlight Insider